For 40 years, the Crossmen have enriched and shaped the lives of young musicians through music education and the performing arts. The 2014 Drum Corps International summer tour represents Crossmen's 40th competitive season. Follow along as Crossmen Executive Director and Corps Director, Fred Morrison, records the daily highlights of the Crossmen Alma Gitana Tour.

Crossmen Blog

"Alma Gitana" a gypsy soul

Crossmen 40th DCI Summer Tour- Day 1

End of Spring Training and First Day of Tour

It is finally here! Crossmen's 40th DCI Tour gets underway today. We are meeting up with our second driver tomorrow so I am in the equipment tractor today. It is fun to drive the big rig to start the tour. I grabbed a couple hours of extra sleep this morning before heading to Blossom with all of my gear for the road knowing that today would be a long one. Maureen, Amy and I grab a bite of lunch and loaded my stuff in the RV afterwards. Maureen and Amy are going to meet us in Southlake for the Toll Brothers Southlake in the Square Father's Day event on Sunday. They head out after saying their goodbyes to the corps. Our program coordinator, Ed Devlin has already departed this morning for a few well deserved days at home in Boston. We hosted a great show last night with a couple thousand fans that got to see the debut of "Alma Gitana" and our new spectacular FJM uniforms. Ed and the designers have put together a wonderful show for our 40th and the uniforms tie in perfectly. I think that the spectators are going to love Crossmen this summer.

The second annual "Run Your Brass Off" was completed this morning. The corps ran the one mile race along with the Crossmen supporters and elite runners that were vying for the medals in their categories. Conor Ebersole broke the Crossmen record from last summer held by Gavin James. Conor crossed the finishline at under 5 minutes 30 seconds.

We have a block after the fun run. After ensemble Joel allows 2 hours for EPL. The convoy is ready to roll a few minutes ahead of schedule. We leave our temporary home at Blossom spotless after our three weeks of spring training. The nine vehicles with our 200 passengers roll out of the lot and head for a Wal-Mart stop in New Braunfels in order to stock up with snacks and toiletries for the next few weeks on the road.

After the supply stop we head for our state capital and our first performance outside of San Antonio. The venue is a special one. 2014 represents our 8th appearance on these steps. We are joined by Guardians and Genesis. Crossmen and Guardians treat the crowd to a DrumLine Battle. The audience really responded to the showmanship of the two drum lines. Crossmen perform our 2014 production "Alma Gitana" as the evenings finale. Genesis and Guardians put on a great show for all in attendance after the DLB. Another special Drum Corps night in the Lonestar State Capital is in the books. Thanks to the folks from ATX Colorguard for pulling the evening together again this year. We are happy to perform here as our first tour stop each year.

We are Southlake bound after snack. Expected arrival is 2:30 am. The tractor that I am piloting tonight is a 2015 Freightliner with an automatic transmission. That is a first for me. I was a little concerned at first but it has turned out to be the best experience I have had in a big rig. The 12 speed is smooth as silk and the electronics are incredible. This is the most fuel efficient combination that I have had the pleasure to drive. Ryan Irby is my co-pilot. We share the same radio tastes so all is good. We are all together as we head up I35 towards Dallas-Fort Worth.